Little Neutral One
by Rowna Seria
Summary: Drabble: Kirk and McCoy are discussing a bit of science over a drink, Spock interrupts their nonsense. Just a little trio silliness.


Warnings: It's been a while since I took a science course...

For those who don't know:

Neutrino: these little guys are part of all the great stuff that comes flying out of the sun (because it's burning hydrogen, lovelies.) They're a different type of matter from atoms and photons. They have hardly and mass and rarely interact with everything else. In fact, you probably have a bunch of these guys shooting through you right now. Fun times.

P.S. If I got anything dead wrong, please tell me.

**Little Neutral One**

"Jim, did you ever wonder what it would be like to _be_ a neutrino?"

McCoy and Kirk were socializing over a bottle of brandy in Jim's quarters and somehow their meandering conversation landed on the various forms of matter.

"I can't say that I have, Bones, but it would be very interesting," Jim spoke slowly, carefully, unconsciously trying _not_ to reveal how much the brandy had affected him.

"You know, I can't say that I have either..." said Leonard with a little _too _much confusion, seeing as he was the one who brought it up.

Jim, however, was now deep in thought, trying to imagine the experience, "Think about it, you'd probably manage to pass by most other forms of matter as if it wasn't even there. You could go straight through a whole planet!"

"Do you think it would be like everything was invisible?"

"If you were invisible and you hit something it would be like you were annihilated by something you had no idea existed."

"Maybe it would be like being smote..."

"Maybe it's not like matter's invisible, but that it looks so far apart, that it's child's play to get through."

"Yes!" exclaimed Bones, suddenly latching onto the idea, "like how the thick underbrush of a forest can be too dense for a human to walk through, but a small animal would have no problem!"

While Leonard became ecstatic, Jim had slipped into a solemn mood, "It would be very lonely, to pass by all the matter in the universe as if it wasn't even there..."

Just after Jim had finished speaking Spock walked in. The doctor continued as if nothing had changed, though he was a little bit incoherent "It would be like everything is so much bigger, but you're going at almost the speed of light, so it's not so far away as it is for us now."

"What are you two discussing?" asked Spock with some mingled disdain and confusion.

"We were just discussing what it would be like to actually be a neutrino," explained Jim with an indulgent smile.

"That is most... illogical," said Spock, eyebrow raised.

"And what's so illogical about using your imagination, Mr. Spock," snapped Leonard, immediately defensive.

"I am merely remarking on the futility of trying to imagine what it would be like to be something that probably has no sense of perception, at least not anything for which we have a frame of reference. It is illogical to try and imagine what it would be like to sense the world as that thing senses it, when we cannot even conceive how it is done."

"That's not the _point _Mr. Spock—" began Leonard, but Jim cut him off before they could really begin to rib each other.

"Maybe it's not that we're imagining what we _are _a neutrino, but that we're thinking about how we can be _like_ a neutrino, and if it reveals something positive or negative about ourselves."

Spock considered Jim's words for a moment, "Still, Captain, there must be more effective ways to discover inner truth than by attempting to imagine something you cannot possibly comprehend."

Leonard looked like he was still raring to disagree, but a mask of confusion came over Jim's face and he said, "You may be right, Spock. I'm... not quite able to reason it out at the moment..." he looked up into his first officer's eyes and offered: "Brandy?"

888

A/N: I wrote this at 2:00am. Good times. Just practicing writing the characters. I am also sad I didn't include flavor mixing (of neutrinos) but I couldn't think of a way of adding it without breaking the flow. And neutrinos aren't really "annihilated," just, you know, the regular old energy transfer bit. (but Kirk's drunk, so he can use language sloppily.)


End file.
